No God or Fal'Cie
by Advocaat
Summary: Valhalla. She knew the name like she knew her own. This was where it had started. And this was where she would wait until the day she could meet him again. HopexLight. Hints of LR shenanigans.


_Valhalla_

Lightning didn't have to wait for the goddess' whisper to know the name of this place. She knew it like she knew her own; the information simply there in her brain. The empty, timeless city was nostalgic to her, although she couldn't explain why.

Until the dreams started, that is.

Well, they weren't really dreams—she didn't sleep here, after all—so much as visions. Or perhaps they were memories. Whatever they were, they started not long after she fell into this separate, unseen realm, not that the when of it mattered much in a place like this. The first time she had seen one was when she'd been exploring the city, just before Caius' first attack. She'd been walking aimlessly through the lonely streets, dragging her fingertips whimsically along the side of a building when she turned a corner, finding herself at the entrance of a garden. Upon seeing it, her body had simply frozen in place. The garden was simple; just a collection of neatly arranged leafy bushes, at the center of which was a small pond accompanied by an empty stone bench, but as she looked at it, unable to do much else with her body mysteriously immobilized, the air around her shimmered and the color seemed to bleed out of her surroundings, leaving only a faint impression of the previously vibrant garden flora. Additionally, the objects in the vicinity appeared to blur at the edges as the area was bathed in a soft glow. _Dreamlike_ would be the appropriate adjective to describe the veil that fell over the place right before her eyes.

The change that succeeded in snagging the majority of her attention, however, was the figure of a man on the previously unoccupied bench—the first soul other than herself that she'd encountered since being brought to Valhalla.

He was young—about her age, if she had to guess—and slender, and in the surreal, dreamlike tint the world had adopted, his hair appeared to be the color of moonlight. He looked up at her, his eyes rising to meet her own, and suddenly she could move again, however her body appeared to not be listening to her brain's commands. She was a passenger in her own skin as her legs carried her toward him.

She saw surprise in his eyes as she approached. "Who—Etro?" he asked, looking at her warily but curiously. His voice tickled her mind; yet another strangely nostalgic thing. "Or are you another soul lost in this place?"

"My name is Claire."

Why had she said that? She hadn't intended to say that.

"You still remember your name," he remarked, giving her a small, gentle smile. "You must be new here."

'"Who are you?" Again, she hadn't intended to say anything. The words had left her lips of their own volition.

The man's smile faded, but just slightly. "I'm afraid I don't remember my name. I've been here too long. But I do remember that I wasn't terribly fond of it," he said with a light chuckle. "I don't suppose you're here with anyone?" he questioned, cocking his head to the side inquisitively.

"I'm alone." This time it didn't surprise Lightning when her mouth worked without her consent.

The man stood from the bench and held out his hand to her. "Well then, shall we stick together?"

It was at that point that the vision—or whatever it was—ended, and Lightning had found herself alone once again, standing in the exact position she'd been in when it began.

* * *

The second time it happened, she'd been on the beach, walking along the shoreline. She'd seen a log half-buried in the sand and was making her way toward it when once again the veil of ethereal light fell over her, bleeding out the color and blurring the edges of the objects around her. And there he was, sitting on the log and looking up at her with the same gentle smile he'd worn the first time she saw him.

"You're fond of the sea?" he asked, resting his elbows on his knees and lacing his fingers together as he watched her.

"It's amazing. I'd never seen it before now," her voice answered him. But why would she say that? She'd grown up in a seaside town.

The man's face showed surprise. "Oh? That's a shame. There are few things more beautiful than the ocean under the stars."

"Too bad it's never nighttime in this place," her mouth remarked. "I guess that's something I'll never get to see."

Once again, the vision ended as abruptly as it began and Lightning was thrust back into reality.

* * *

The third one came after a battle with Caius. The fight had ended with her being catapulted into the sea, and as she waded back through the briny tide, her armor and hair dripping from her impromptu swim, she saw him, standing on the shore watching her with an amused look on his face.

"Fancied a swim, did you?" he asked teasingly.

"Don't get cute," she responded, and she felt her arms lift to wring out her sopping hair.

Her feet found dry sand, and for the first time, Lightning noticed that she wasn't wearing Etro's armor. Her feet were bare, and her ankles seemed skinner than she remembered.

The man walked up to her and delicately pulled the band from her wet hair, releasing it to fall freely over her shoulder. Lightning felt new confusion rise within her. She hadn't worn her hair in a ponytail since...

"You have lovely hair, Claire," the man said, deftly pulling his fingers through the ends in an effort to untangle it. "You should take better care of it."

Normally, Lightning would never let anyone touch her hair, but she was powerless to stop this man. And whatever, or whoever, was in control of her body didn't seem to mind. He was close enough that she thought she could almost make out the color of his eyes, if not for the quickly-becoming-typical lack of saturation in the environment whenever he appeared.

The man finished, seemingly satisfied, and stepped back to admire his work. "There now. You really look like a young lady," he observed, his tone affectionate.

Lightning felt her cheeks warm slightly in embarrassment. When she was returned to reality in the next moment, the warmth remained.

* * *

The fourth time a vision accosted her, Lightning finally began to get something of an idea about what the visions actually were. This time, it struck while she was strolling through an empty city square. She'd been walking over to the large fountain in the center when the familiar veil of soft light fell over her. She looked to her side to find the man standing right next to her, gazing at the fountain with a thoughtful expression.

"I wonder if there was ever a time when people actually lived here," he pondered aloud, crossing his arms over his chest. "I can't believe that this whole city was built simply to give a couple of screw-ups like us a place to kick back until the gods finally come around to set us straight."

"That's what you think? That we're screw-ups?" she questioned curiously.

He chuckled. "How else can you explain us winding up lost here instead of back in the chaos where we belong? I mean, every other soul manages to get where they're meant to go just fine. You and I must be pretty dumb, huh?"

Lightning found herself shaking her head. "We'll be reborn one day. You'll see," she assured him. "Maybe there's a reason we're here. Maybe Etro or Bhunivelze—or whoever—has some big plan for us, and right now we're just being kept here, waiting for the right moment."

"That's a lofty theory," the man said, shooting her a grin. "But it sounds as good as any to me."

He took a few steps to the edge of the fountain's bowl and sat down, and Lightning found herself plopping down next to him and leaning over to rest her body against his side. He brought his arm up and patted the top of her head fondly and seemingly reflexively, as though this were something he did often.

"If we do eventually get to be reborn," he said, his palm coming to rest lightly on her crown, "I hope you end up somewhere near the sea."

"Say we end up being reborn into the same time," she supposed, drawing her knees up to her chest in what Lightning personally found to be a rather childish fashion. "Do you think we'll meet?"

The man grinned again and ruffled her hair. "Who knows. I might not have time to babysit brats, you know."

Lightning took a degree of satisfaction in her body's actions when she responded by pushing him backward into the fountain.

* * *

The visions continued. The more Lightning explored Valhalla, the more scenes she witnessed between this younger version of herself and the mysterious stranger who kept her company. She learned that although he couldn't recall his name or where he'd lived before his death, he remembered his age—21—and that he'd been an only child. She learned that he'd been a researcher studying the Fal'Cie, and that he'd written several records on the history of Bhunivelze and the almighty God's creations.

In turn, he learned that she had a sister who she'd loved more than anything; whom she'd saved from a pack of hungry monsters at the cost of her own life. From her own lips, Lightning heard the history of the girl called Claire; her likes and dislikes; her hopes and her dreams. And her regrets. Claire regretted many things. She regretted dying and leaving her sister all alone. She regretted her parents' deaths, which she held herself responsible for. But what she regretted most was that she'd never be reunited with her sister while she was stuck in Valhalla. She wondered if her sister had already died and been reborn without her.

The man listened, that gentle smile ever on his face. He assured her that she'd meet her sister again one day. If Serah loved Claire as much as Claire loved her, then they'd find each other again. No god or Fal'Cie could keep them apart forever.

Lightning came to actually enjoy these visions—memories; whatever. They kept her sane in the never-ending cycle of battle and rest that was her life in Valhalla. Or maybe they were a sign that she was going _in_sane. Whatever the case, she looked forward to them; even began to search them out by allocating more and more of her downtime to exploring the city. As the years became centuries, the visions helped keep her loneliness at bay. Until...

She was sitting with him on the beach once again, this time her back was pressed up against his warm chest and his chin was resting comfortably atop her head. They'd grown so close over the centuries that Lightning could hardly tell where she stopped and he began.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky suddenly, and both their heads turned reflexively to gaze up at where Etro's throne was located, far above the rest of the city. Lightning felt a tingling in her whole body and she let out a gasp when she looked down at her hands and was able to see the sand through them. "What's going on?" she questioned fearfully, turning her head back to look at her companion.

The man smiled, but the gesture lacked much of its usual cheer. "It looks like it's your time," he answered, tightening his hold around her.

Lightning's eyes widened in shock as they searched his desperately. "No, that can't be! What about you?"

The man pressed a soothing kiss to her forehead and unwound one of his arms from around her to pat the top of her head the way he always did. "I'm sure my turn will come soon," he replied reassuringly. "I'll just be a bit behind you, is all."

She shook her head frantically. "But you don't know that! You can't know that!"

"Hey," he said gently. "You and I are partners, right? We'll find each other again. No god or Fal'Cie can keep us apart forever."

Lightning felt her eyes moisten and her nose stuff up and she swallowed a sob, trying to be brave.

The last thing she saw was his smiling face. Then the vision ended.

There were no more visions after that.

* * *

Lightning paced restlessly in Etro's throne room. All she had now were the intermittent battles with Caius and her job as the keeper of the timeline to keep her occupied. She felt more alone and empty than ever.

Even if Serah and Noel managed to right the timeline and stop Caius, there was no guarantee that she'd get to leave this place. In that case, humanity would just continue on without her; Lightning forced to remain in Valhalla in eternal solitude. She missed her sister. She missed her former companions.

She missed the man in her visions.

If those visions had indeed been memories, she wondered what had happened to the kind young man without a name who'd kept her company for countless years in this place sometime long ago. Surely he had been reborn, or he would still be here, right?

But he had said they'd meet again. _No god or Fal'Cie can keep those who love each other apart forever_, he'd said. And he'd been right. She'd found Serah again. But...what about him?

She could find him! Lightning's chin snapped up in realization. She could look down the timeline into the distant past and discover just who he was; finally put a name to his face, if nothing else. Maybe it would help her find where he was now.

She closed her eyes and opened her mind to the flow of ages, using her sister's gentle light as an anchor, as she often did. Right now, Serah and Noel were in Yaschas Massif in 10 AF, although she was vaguely aware that it wasn't their first trip to that particular time. Curious what they were up to, she cast her mind's eye to their location. Her heart seemed to lurch in her chest when her gaze landed on the man they were talking to.

It was him. Perhaps a tad older, but _him_, without a doubt.

_Hope?_

How did she not see it before? Her mind wandered back to the first time she'd laid eyes on the man in her visions. He had seemed familiar to her back then, but she hadn't given it any thought.

She wished she had.

Everything made sense; why she'd taken to Hope so quickly; why Hope had been drawn to her more-so than to their other companions; why it had been so natural to call him her partner...

"_I'll just be a bit behind you, is all."_

"Seven years," she whispered to his image. _But you kept your promise. _

oO0Oo

* * *

Woooow. Yet another non-humorous story. That's so weird.

If you made it to the end, I hope you enjoyed this. It was a enjoyable to write. I said I might try my hand at another Hoperai fic, and poof! Here it is. Short, but a bit longer than the last one. Sorry if it seems kind of rushed. I basically wrote it in a day.

I had this idea to write a story about pre-series Lightning and Hope, like a reverse reincarnation deal, and I also found myself really wanting to play with Valhalla, and BAM! the words just started flowing.

Please let me know what you thought. Or just send me a penis made out of symbols. You know, whatever.


End file.
